Five Crossroads Teams In Preseason Division II Poll
Five Crossroads Teams In Preseason Division II Poll
Posted
Seth Mikel-
Five Crossroads Teams In Preseason Division II PollKANSAS CITY – The Crossroads League placed five teams in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Preseason Top-25 Poll, with defending league champion Saint Francis opening at No. 1, and defending NAIA Champion Indiana Wesleyan starting at No. 2, Bethel earning a No. 16 rating and Mount Vernon and Marian each receiving votes. No. 1 Saint Francis swept the regular season and tournament championships in the Crossroads League during the 2015-2016 campaign and finished at 33-5 overall with a loss to IWU in the NAIA National Tournament Championship game. The Cougars return Preseason All-Crossroads League selections Bryce Lienhoop, Kegan Comer, Evan Henry and Kyle Sovine, along with Preseason All-Freshmen Team addition Vijay Blackmon. USF is set to open at home on Friday against Cincinnati Christian. No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan finished the 2015-2016 season at 33-5 and with its second NAIA National Championship in three seasons. The Wildcats will be led by Crossroads League Preseason Player of the Year Lane Mahurin, as well as fellow Preseason All-Leaguers Bob Peters and Jacob Johnson. IWU opens on Friday against Aquinas and Saturday at No. 8 Cornerstone in Grand Rapids, Mich. No. 16 Bethel went 24-10 last season and returns Clay Yeo, Gage Ott and Caleb Oetjen, who all were named to the Preseason All-Crossroads League Team. The Pilots will open their 2016-2017 campaign at Andrews on Nov. 2. Mount Vernon Nazarene received votes in the preseason ratings after posting a 14-16 overall mark one year ago. The Cougars return Preseason All-Crossroads League selection Josh Ashwill and will open at the Marian Tournament Friday and Saturday. Marian also garnered votes in the poll on the heels of a 19-12 effort in 2015-2016. The Knights will be led by Preseason All-Crossroads League standout Wesley Stowers and Preseason All-Freshman Team addition Derek Hawthorne. MU will host Midway and Calumet Saint Joseph on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The NAIA Top-25 Poll is voted on by a panel of head coaches from around the nation. The first regular-season men’s basketball poll will be announced Nov. 28.
2016 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll - Preseason (Oct. 25) Rank Last year SCHOOL (1sr place votes) 2016 Record Points 1 2 Saint Francis (Ind.) (10) 33-5 311 2 1 Indiana Wesleyan (1) 24-10 299 3 3 Davenport (Mich.) (1) 32-5 292 4 4 Briar Cliff (Iowa) 32-4 274 5 7 St. Francis (Ill.) 28-4 265 6 5 Keiser (Fla.) 28-4 260 7 NR College of Idaho 17-13 245 8 12 Cornerstone (Mich.) 27-7 238 9 6 IU East 27-8 221 10 9 Tabor (Kan.) 30-4 214 11 11 Union (Ky.) 28-7 211 12 10 Northwest Christian (Ore.) 28-7 199 13 24 Robert Morris (Ill.) 24-10 189 14 NR Dakota State (S.D.) 19-14 172 15 RV St. Thomas (Fla.) 18-10 163 16 13 Bethel (Ind.) 24-10 159 T17 17 York (Neb.) 25-10 144 T17 15 Warner Pacific (Ore.) 24-10 144 19 8 Warner (Fla.)\ 23-6 123 20 23 Indiana Tech 23-10 117 21 NR Midland (Neb.) 16-14 112 22 RV Saint Xavier (Ill.) 19-13 104 23 RV Rochester (Mich.) 24-7 99 24 RV Bellevue (Neb.) 20-12 93 25 18 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 23-11 55
Dropped from the rankings: No. 14 Mount Mercy (Iowa); No. 16 Nebraska Wesleyan; No. 19 Tennessee Wesleyan; No. 20 Cal Maritime; No. 21 Valley City State (N.D.); No. 25 Southwestern (Kan.) Others receiving votes: Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 50; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 39; Ohio Christian 38; Bluefield (Va.) 19; Cal Maritime 17; Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) 13; Central Christian (Kan.) 11; Marian (Ind.) 10; Dordt (Iowa) 7; Saint Mary (Kan.) 7; Southeastern (Fla.) 6; Eastern Oregon 6; Jamestown (N.D.) 4; Tennessee Wesleyan 3. ^Reflects ranking in 2015-16 postseason poll
